It's Happening Again
by MystiMoon
Summary: I decided to put myself in the story. This never actually happened to me. It was a dream. I get kidnapped along with another CSI. My past gets revealed with many twists and turns. Warning: If you don't like stories with domestic violence, keep out.
1. Chapter 1

My head felt groggy and my entire body ached. I tried to open my eyes but found darkness around me. I wasn't quite sure if I even opened my eyes or not. I was sitting on a cold surface like concrete. _Where am I?_ I moved my hands to feel around my surrounding but found my hands were stuck behind my back and attached to something. _A pole?_

I listened to see if I could hear something that my eyes couldn't see. It sounded like breathing. The sound was coming to from my left. A faint sound of breathing. _Who else is here? Mom? Dad?_ The unknown person began to stir. I heard a groan and the sound of someone trying to sit up.

"Hello?" I asked uncertainly. My voice shaking a bit.

The body answered back, "Where are you? Who are you?"

The other person seemed just as uncertain of their surroundings as I was. It was a female voice however.

"I'm to your right, and my name is Amber, who are you?" I answered.

I heard the woman feeling around on the floor. _Her hands much not be tied like mine._ She felt around until her hand came into contact with my leg, "Oh. Sorry, I can't see a thing. I'm Stella. Do you remember how you got here?"

I tried to think, "I remember walking out of my house to go to school and...and I think someone grabbed me and then everything went black," I told her while the memory was coming back.

"Wait, you said your name was Amber? Amber Miller?" Stella inquired.

I looked shocked for a moment, though she couldn't see it. _How does she know who I am?_ She must have noticed my hesitation and carried on.

"I am a CSI for NYPD. I was investigating a kidnapping of a girl...well, of you," she said.

I took the information in. _She's a cop. How can she get kidnapped?_ "How exactly did you end up here? Shouldn't you have other cops around you?"

I noticed the hesitation in her voice now. I thought about how my question sounded and I corrected myself, "Sorry, I didn't mean to say you're a bad cop or anything. I..."

"No, it's alright," she interrupted, "you're right though. I should've had others around me but we are a bit short staffed right now. Too many people are murdered in New York."

She told me about how she was working in my bedroom to get any clues of who would have taken me when a cloth came over her mouth and nose. That's all she remembers before she ended up here with me.

Once we had introduced ourselves and talked about little conversation about where we thought we were, there wasn't much else to talk about. We sat in silence for what seemed like an hour to me until a door opened.

Light flooded into the room and I could finally see what the room looked like. It looked like a basement. The walls were made of cement and I was, as I thought, attached to a pole with handcuffs.

Then I looked at the door again. A man was standing in front of it. He maybe was 5'8" and he was very muscular. He had short black hair and a mustache and beard growing. In his left hand was a gun. He looked vaguely familiar; like I had seen him somewhere before but I couldn't remember.

The man started talking, "Well, looks like my two beauties are up."

"What do you want?" Stella asked trying to act brave.

The man looked at her and sneered. He then looked at me. His stare was as cold as ice, "Hello Amber."

I didn't say anything back. I just looked at him trying to figure out who he is and why he knows me. I could tell Stella was also looking at me trying to make a connection. I couldn't.

"Not even going to say hello? That's not very nice." He said.

I still didn't say anything until he held the gun higher and pointed it at me, "C'mon be nice."

"Hello," I mumbled seeing no other option.

Stella spoke again, "Who are you and what do you want with us?"

"Well, aren't you a woman full of questions," he said mockingly at her, "It doesn't matter who I am and what I want with you, Stella, isn't that much. I just needed to stop you from solving this. You were too close."

"Then what's your connection with Amber?" Stella tried to ask to get answers.

The man started walking up towards me, "There is no connection, really, I just saw her in the park one day," He now knelt down beside me. He put his hand on my leg to make sure I wouldn't move, "you know, she just walked in front of me and I knew I had to have her," he moved his hand onto my face, "she's just so beautiful."

I pulled my head away. I was completely freaked out about what he was saying. _What does he mean by 'he had to have me'?_ I could tell Stella was getting nervous as well because she started moving and trying to get up. The man grabbed the gun and put it to my head.

"You get up, or even move, she's dead," he said very seriously as he cocked the gun.

Stella sat back down and listened. The man continued, "and if either of you start screaming, there will be a bullet in you so fast, you won't know what hit you."

The man put his hand back onto my face and was stroking my cheek. I kept telling him to stop but he wouldn't. Now Stella was also trying to negotiate with him.

He stood up and walked towards Stella instead, "I thought I told you to sit down and shut up,"

"I'm not going to let you hurt her," Stella said.

The man sneered again, "Oh, you want to be brave? You want to be first?"

The man put the gun to Stella's head now, "Get up."

She didn't move.

He pulled her by her hair which got her to get up. He kept pulling her until she was completely out of the room. He closed the door behind them and I was left alone.


	2. Chapter 2

I was so scared. I didn't know who he was and what he was about to do. It freaked me out so much about what he said.

I sat in silence when I started hearing screaming. It was so loud and it sounded like Stella. _That could have been me. Stella went instead of me. I definitely owe her one._

I sat there for a while longer hearing the shrill screams of the person I had only met an hour ago.

The screaming stopped and the silence around me was broken when I heard the shuffling of feet outside the door. A key went into the lock and the door opened.

I looked up to see the man holding Stella by her arm and pulling her into the room. Stella has cuts all over her face and neck from what I could see. She looked badly beaten. She looked a little scared but when she saw me looking at her she tried to put on the best brave face she could at the moment. It only half convinced me.

She was pushed into the room and the door was closed again.

She got up from her position and sat down beside me.

I felt so guilty that she was being hurt because of me, "Sorry."

"'bout what?" she asked with pain still in her voice.

"I'm sorry I got you into this mess. I'm sorry you just got hurt because of me. I'm—"

She cut me off, "don't worry. This isn't your fault. The man out there is the sicko who took both of us in the first place."

I sat in silence for a moment not knowing what to say. Finally I said, "You know Stella, you don't have to try to act so brave around me for my sake."

I think she was startled about what I told her because it took her a moment to respond, "You didn't fall for it?" I could tell she was trying to be funny.

"No. I've learned you don't always need to be brave in every situation. You just need to do the best you can in your circumstances. In our circumstance, I'd say the thing we need to focus on is getting out."

Stella started laughing, "You sound like my mother. How old are you again?"

"16. I've kinda had a rough life though. You just gotta get through it."

"Well, I'm a foster kid and even I don't think like that. What has your life been like?" Stella asked still laughing a bit.

Now I started laughing, "I don't think you want to know that. Especially if you don't think like me."

"Well, we have lots of time. I don't think we're getting out of here soon," she responded.

"I—well—," I was trying to think of what to say, "I'd rather not talk about it. I live in a world of secrecy. What others don't know won't hurt them."

Stella hesitated, "you know, it's good to talk about things. Keeping everything bottled up isn't good either."

"Now you sound like my therapist," I said jokingly.

"Therapist?" Stella asked astonished, "life has been that bad for you?"

I hesitated again, "well—I—you could say I've seen more deaths in my lifetime than you have on the job."

"Oh—I'm sorry," Stella said with an air of pity in her voice.

We sat in silence for even longer. Neither of us wanting to say anything to bring back bad memories.

I sat there trying to think of the connection. _Where have I seen him before?_ I kept thinking and slowly fell asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

_I was sitting on my bed. Well, my old bed. It was the bed I had when I lived with my parents. The memories of that house, that bedroom, were terrible. My father was abusive. He would find any excuse to come and beat me. I couldn't do anything about it. I always looked to my mother to help me out. She would in the beginning, when I was very young. When my father's attention got pulled away from me, he would just go off and beat my mother. She probably got sick of taking the beatings for me so she stopped helping. Instead, she thought I should owe her for all the times she took it for me. She used me as a shield. Now my father only had one target, me._

_My father was always drunk. You could always smell the alcohol on his breath when he came close. As I got older, I figured out the way of life. Do what he says, stay out of his way, get out of the house as much as possible, but be home at 5:00 sharp or else you will get hurt for being late._

_I lived like this until I was seven. It was summertime and my world was just about to be turned upside down. It was late. My father was supposed to be home for dinner but never showed. We waited for him but after a while we ate in silence. He must have gone to the bar with his friends again. That's what he always does after work. _

_He came bursting into the door around 9:00. My mother and I were watching television. He came stammering in, barely able to stand up. He looked angry, but it was hard to tell if he was actually angry or he was just too drunk. He came into the room and started cursing at us. I couldn't really understand what he was saying because he was slurring all of his words together. He stared at us like we were supposed to answer him. I didn't know what to say. He looked me and then my mother. I thought he was going to come over and beat me again. Instead, he went over and beat my mother. I was surprised that he wasn't beating me but I really didn't care. I started to get up in order to get out of his radar until he yelled out to me to sit down. I was debating on what to do but I reluctantly sat._

_He left the room for a moment and came back holding something behind him. He walked over to where my mother was sitting and smiled. I wanted to run but my legs wouldn't move. He pulled a knife out from behind his back and started stabbing my mother. He kept stabbing and stabbing until she stopped moving. Now I was really trying to get up and run. My brain was going crazy trying to stand up. I just couldn't._

_My father left my mother's side and walked up to me. He started raising the knife and I knew this was it. I was going to die. The first stab came and went into my right shoulder, he raised the knife again and stab me again, this time in the stomach. My brain and limbs were finally connecting and I got up. I was in so much pain but I started fighting him. I grabbed his wrists and held them away from me. His grip on the knife loosened and I saw my chance. _

_I grabbed the knife out of his hands and turned it on him. I started stabbing him in the stomach. I was going insane. He just killed my mother, he just stabbed me, he should be dead for everything he has done to me in the past. He should die. I need to kill him. I kept stabbing until he fell to the floor. I stabbed a couple more times until I was sure he was dead._

I was shook out of my nightmare by someone calling my name, "Amber? Amber!"

I opened my eyes to see Stella shaking my shoulder, "what?"

"You okay? you were screaming and thrashing about," she stated worried.

I calmed myself down and looked around. I still couldn't see anything in the room, "I'm fine, just having a bad dream."

She kind of scoffed off my answer, "it's got to be one hell of a nightmare then."

"It's just that this place reminds me of my past quite a bit," I answered softly.

Stella gasped, "you've been in this situation before?"

"Like I said before, you have to do the best you can in every situation. Make the best of it," I shrugged.

There was a long pause. I could tell Stella was debating on whether or not to ask the question that was eating at her, "What happened last time?"

"Last time? I—did my foster parents tell you anything about my life yet?" I asked hoping the answer was no.

Stella sat there trying to remember, "they said you have had many unfortunate accidents in your life that you couldn't control."

"That's an understatement. You want to know what happened last time I got kidnapped? I had just ran away from my foster parents' home, my first set, I didn't want to go back into another foster home. I planned on living on the streets until I was old enough to buy my own home," I started. I paused for a moment.

"What happened next?" Stella asked.

"I was walking down the street when a van pulled up beside me and pulled me in. By the time I could respond, there were already three guys on top of me holding me down. I got taken to an old farmhouse. It was very secluded," tears were about to fall down my face, "I got sold for sex."

Stella didn't respond for a long time. Probably because she didn't know what to say. Finally she spoke up, "Your foster parents must have missed you."

I shook my head, though she couldn't see it, "No. My foster parents were dead. I found them hanging by the ceiling that morning. It's why I ran away."

"Oh my. I'm sorry," was all she was able to say.

I was starting to cry now, "you know, I read the note they left behind and it said they killed themselves because I was to much work. They didn't want the hassle."

Stella was trying to comfort me as best she could, "it's not your fault."

"The cops have come and found me the only one alive in a room full of people too many times. Next time it happens, they probably won't believe me. No one can die here. I can't go to prison, I can't go into another foster home," I started ranting.

"Wait," Stella interrupted, "Don't worry, no one is going to die. Also remember, I am a CSI. They will believe me. You aren't going to go to prison for self-defense."

"That's what everyone says. If you are defending yourself it's okay. The only problem is that I have had to defend myself in every new place I go to. Everyone I have ever known is dead," I was going hysterical now.

Stella and I just sat there. No one said another word.


	4. Chapter 4

I was calmer now. Stella was trying to help but there was nothing she could say to make it better. I felt terrible. Memories were starting to come back I could remember the face of everyone I had hurt. Everyone who had hurt me.

Suddenly, the door opened. The man came back. I looked at him again, he had his gun in his hand again. I looked at his face and then the memory came back.

_I was walking down the street trying to get the memory of my foster parents out of my head. I heard a car engine come up behind me. I turned around and a white van was slowly creeping up on me. I turned around thinking it was just pulling over or something. Suddenly, someone grabbed me from behind. I got pulled into the van and I was thrown onto the floor. There were people on top of me preventing me from moving. I looked up and saw three men and another one driving. They looked to be in their early thirties._

"Why aren't you in prison?" I asked abruptly.

Stella stared at me and he looked confused. He spoke up, "pardon me?"

"You were one of the men that kidnapped me before. Why aren't you in prison?" I retorted.

"Ah, I was hoping you wouldn't have gotten that good of a look at me," he said walking up to me, "and I'm not in prison 'cause I was never caught."

I glared at him, "that could be arranged."

"Your know, you're not in the best position to be making threats," he said pointing to my handcuffs.

"You let your buddies go to prison while you stayed out in the free world? Some friend," I stated mockingly.

He walked up to me now, "don't talk to me like that!" he slapped me across the face, "you know what? I'll show you not to mess with me."

He started to take the handcuffs off of me. As soon as I had both hands free, I pretended to be thankful they were off. My wrists were getting raw but I wasn't going to show him I was weak. He started pulling me up. I knew what he was going to do and I wasn't going to let him. We were heading towards the door when I looked over at Stella. The man started to pay more attention to why I was looking over there and I saw my opportunity.

I yanked myself free from his grasp and started punching him. I pulled his arm behind his back and smashed him into the wall. There was a bang when his head hit the wall and he slid to the floor.

I walked over and grabbed the handcuffs I had just been wearing and placed them on his wrists. I took his keys and stood up.

I looked over at Stella who was just sitting on the floor in amazement. Her mouth was just hanging open at what she just witnessed, "I told you I didn't want anyone killed. He may have a huge headache later, but, oh well."

I started heading towards the door and Stella got up and ran after me, "where the hell did you learn moves like that?"

I looked at her and started laughing, "I already told you. Make the most of the situation your in. Learn from your previous encounters. At least the others kidnappers knew never to give me any freedom or I will take advantage of it."

Stella and I walked out of the room and went to the phone. I picked up the receiver and handed it to Stella, "do you have a boss or someone to call and pick us up. They're probably worried about you."

She took the phone still eyeing me suspiciously about what just happened. She dialled a number and started talking to someone she called Mac. I guessed it was her boss. She was talking for a bit about what happened and she kept saying we were fine. Then she started listening to him talk for a while and her face turned very pale. She hung up and told me what she knew.

"Okay, since I don't really know where we are, they are tracking the phone number and they will be here as soon as possible," she said.

She looked away. I knew she wanted to tell me something but she was worried, "what? Did the guy tell you something else?"

"Uh—you're foster parents. They were found in their hotel room dead," she said solemnly.

I stared at her trying to take in the info, "how? When?"

She started talking quieter, "sometime last night. They hung themselves. Our team investigated it and there was no signs of foul play. I'm sorry."

"Well, I knew that had to be coming soon," I said trying to lighten the mood.

Stella looked startled, "what do you mean?"

"It was just over two years when I started living with them. No one has lasted this long with me before they quit. Or got caught," I said making a reference to the kidnapper in the back room.

"Two more people to add to my death pool," I said as I stared out the window waiting for the person called Mac to come.


	5. Chapter 5

We sat in silence until we finally started hearing sirens. A couple cars came and cops came into the house with their guns drawn.

I spoke up, "There's no need for those. The guy is handcuffed in the backroom. Probably suffering a massive headache by now."

The man looked at me like I was crazy then to Stella who just shrugged. Two other officers went to the back and pulled him out and brought him to the squad car waiting outside.

The man came up and knelt down in front of Stella and me, "nice job getting him caught for us."

He was more talking to Stella expecting that she was the one to save us both until she corrected him, "you mean nice job Amber. I didn't do anything except get beaten up."

Mac looked over at me. He looked me up and down trying to figure out how a sixteen year old girl just took down a thirty year old with a gun, "well then, nice job," he said as he held out his hand, "I'm Mac Taylor."

I shook his hand, "Amber Miller."

"Did Stella tell you about—uh," he started to say.

I cut him off, "my foster parents? Yes, she did."

"How are you holding up," he asked.

I laughed, "Actually, I'm amazed they have lasted this long. Others would have given up long ago. Do I have to go to another foster home?"

Mac stared at me still taken back by what I had just said, "Uh, yes you do."

I looked over at Stella and said jokingly, "see, this is why I ran away from the cops last time. It's best for me to live by myself so no one else dies."

Mac looked at me questioningly then at Stella looking for some clue as to what I was talking about.

Stella shook her head slightly telling Mac not to ask.

I looked up at him, "you haven't read my file? I thought that would be the first thing you would do when I went missing again."

"Do I want to read your file?" he asked.

I didn't answer him but looked up at Stella, "does he think like me?"

Stella thought about her answer for a bit, "no."

I looked back over at Mac, "then no, you don't."

"Okay then, how about we get you two to the hospital?" Mac started.

We walked out to get into the car. There were still many officers sitting there to make sure everything was okay. I walked past a group of them and they all looked at me and waved, "hey Amber, fancy meeting you again."

Mac and Stella looked at one another. Stella spoke up, "do you think it's bad that they all know her like best friends?"

Mac sighed, "I don't know."

We drove to the hospital. We walked in and there were doctors already waiting for us. I walked up to one of them, "Hey Doctor Smith. How have you been since last time?"

She looked up at me and sighed, "again, Amber? What trouble did you get in now?"

I looked over at Stella then back at the doctor, "I think she needs to get checked out before me. I can wait," I said pointing at Stella.

Stella got taken into a room and I sat in the waiting room with Mac.


	6. Chapter 6

"You know, you're very strong and brave for someone in your situation," Mac said.

I smiled, "that's what Stella said to me, too."

"Oh yeah? And what did you say to her?" Mac asked laughing a little.

"You need to make the most of the situation your in. Make it worth your time to be there," I stated.

"You know," Mac started, "you'd make a good cop. Besides everyone seems to already know you."

I laughed at that comment, "I only know them 'cause they were the cops that responded to situations I've been in my past. And—I don't think I would be allowed to be a cop with my record."

Stella came back out seeing Mac and I laughing and joking around. The doctor came up to me, "Amber, come in now."

I got up and headed into the room. Stella sat in the seat I was in and started talking to Mac. She probably filled him in on everything that was going on.

The doctor checked me out and didn't find anything wrong, "told ya I wasn't hurt. I only have sore wrists from the handcuffs," I said.

I walked out of the room with bandages around both my wrists covering the reddened skin.

I walked up to Mac and Stella. Mac nodded his head at me and Stella looked at me, "thank you for helping us get out. I don't know what would have happened if something else happened."

I smiled at her, "no problem," I looked over at Mac, "What do I have to do now in order to get more foster parents?"

"You just have to come back to the station and give your statement first," Mac said as he was standing up to walk away.

Stella and I started following him, "oh, and Amber?" Mac started, "I will personally make sure you will get into a nice foster home."


End file.
